These are the frequently asked questions and answers related to 1st SMTP Server

I would like a product that I can use where I bypass my provider's SMTP server, because they don't let me send any messages.

Brief Answer: We don’t recommend it, but you can use 1st SMTP Server for that purpose

Answer: We would not recommended bypassing your provider’s SMTP server, because utilizing it you are relying on big, established, production size machine to handle your mail. Your ISP however, has the ability to block your messages because they most probably rely on a sophisticated mechanism for blocking spam messages. If you run a legitimate opt in campaign with the users who elected to receive the messages, you should not have any problems sending through your ISP. If you are being blocked, they probably deem you as a spam sender. Please check our anti-spamming policy before trying our products. If you are sending spam, we obviously cannot help you, but if you are running a legitimate business, you can use our 1st SMTP Server for that purpose.

I installed 1st SMTP Server on my fully updated XP box. It tells me that port 25 is busy upon execution. What should I do?

Answer: If you have a full installation of Windows XP professional, you have probably installed Microsoft SMTP Server that comes with IIS. It is running in the background so you don’t see it. You will have to disable it in the Internet Information Services Manager that is accessible through Control Panel’s Administrative tools.

Is there a way to minimize the window of 1st SMTP Server into the tray bar?

Brief Answer: Yes, when you close the main window, it is actually minimized

Answer: 1st SMTP Server is the tray bar program. It resides in the lower right corner of your screen. You can open a main window and then when you close the window, the program minimizes to tray bar automatically. To exit the program, either choose the Exit option from drop down menu on the tray bar icon, or click Exit button on the main form.

Will your 1st SMTP Server have the ability to choose a different port for sending, such as port 26, because my ISP blocks port 25?

Brief Answer: It just doesn’t make sense, since it will not work.

Answer: Even if we will enable that option, if you choose a different port, other than 25, nobody will be able to receive your emails, because all SMTP hosts and servers work on port 25 which is a standard for SMTP as defined by Internet Engineering Task Force(IETF). You can specify port in your email program, but that is only when your own SMTP Server is configured to receive connections on port other than 25. But from your SMTP to the destination SMTP, I can pretty much assure you it goes on the port 25, other programs take other ports. Here is just a partial services file that shows you how different programs use different ports as standard.

echo 7/tcp

echo 7/udp

discard 9/tcp sink null

discard 9/udp sink null

systat 11/tcp users #Active users

systat 11/tcp users #Active users

daytime 13/tcp

daytime 13/udp

qotd 17/tcp quote #Quote of the day

qotd 17/udp quote #Quote of the day

chargen 19/tcp ttytst source #Character generator

chargen 19/udp ttytst source #Character generator

ftp-data 20/tcp #FTP, data

ftp 21/tcp #FTP. control

telnet 23/tcp

<b>smtp 25/tcp mail #Simple Mail Transfer</b>

time 37/tcp timserver

time 37/udp timserver

rlp 39/udp resource #Resource Location

nameserver 42/tcp name #Host Name Server

nameserver 42/udp name #Host Name Server

nicname 43/tcp whois

domain 53/tcp #Domain Name Server

domain 53/udp #Domain Name Server

bootps 67/udp dhcps #Bootstrap Protocol Server

bootpc 68/udp dhcpc #Bootstrap Protocol Client

tftp 69/udp #Trivial File Transfer

gopher 70/tcp

finger 79/tcp

http 80/tcp www www-http #World Wide Web

kerberos 88/tcp krb5 kerberos-sec #Kerberos

kerberos 88/udp krb5 kerberos-sec #Kerberos

hostname 101/tcp hostnames #NIC Host Name Server

iso-tsap 102/tcp #ISO-TSAP Class 0

rtelnet 107/tcp #Remote Telnet Service

pop2 109/tcp postoffice #Post Office Protocol – Version 2

pop3 110/tcp #Post Office Protocol – Version 3

sunrpc 111/tcp rpcbind portmap #SUN Remote Procedure Call

sunrpc 111/udp rpcbind portmap #SUN Remote Procedure Call

auth 113/tcp ident tap #Identification Protocol

uucp-path 117/tcp

nntp 119/tcp usenet #Network News Transfer Protocol

ntp 123/udp #Network Time Protocol

epmap 135/tcp loc-srv #DCE endpoint resolution

epmap 135/udp loc-srv #DCE endpoint resolution

netbios-ns 137/tcp nbname #NETBIOS Name Service

netbios-ns 137/udp nbname #NETBIOS Name Service

netbios-dgm 138/udp nbdatagram #NETBIOS Datagram Service

netbios-ssn 139/tcp nbsession #NETBIOS Session Service

imap 143/tcp imap4 #Internet Message Access Protocol

pcmail-srv 158/tcp #PCMail Server

snmp 161/udp #SNMP

snmptrap 162/udp snmp-trap #SNMP trap

What is a SMTP connection?

Brief Answer: SMTP is an acronym for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

Answer: SMTP is an acronym for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. It is an Internet standard outlined by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to be used for sending email messages. All internet providers nowadays use this protocol to send email. When using SMTP, there should be a client sending the messages and the server receiving them. Your email program utilizes this protocol and acts as SMTP client to distribute email messages to recipients. In most cases you will configure and use any email client the same way you do with your regular email client like Microsoft Outlook. You will specify the SMTP server that Internet provider gave you. When the SMTP Client sends email messages, it connects to the SMTP server you have specified and communicates to it using SMTP protocol.

Is there a possibility to log all relay connections in 1st SMTP Server?

Brief Answer: 1st SMTP Server logs all the messages it sends

Answer: 1st SMTP Server logs all the messages it sends, with the status and detailed description of errors if there are any. Click on the Log button on the main form to see it.

I am trying to use the evaluation version of 1st SMTP Server. The server always stops sending mail at the 100th email account. Why?

Brief Answer: We restricted a number of messages you can send to 100 in the evaluation version.

Answer: It happens because it is a trial version. We did it intentionally so that you can test the features of the program and evaluate if it is good for you. When you purchase a full version there is no limit on how many messages you can send with the program.

I performed the port 25 test and it succeeded. Why do I get an error that a domain could not be resolved?

Brief Answer: Use another DNS server that works correctly. Give your ISP a call for details.

Answer: This usually happens when you use an incorrect DNS server or an IP address of a host that is not a DNS server at all. The program may detect automatically a private DNS server that does not contain all names of the Internet. Manually you may enter an IP address of a host that does not run a DNS service. This usually causes 1st SMTP Server to raise an exception that a domain could not be resolved. You can easily check if the DNS server that appears in 1st SMTP Server is correct by using the nslookup command. Press the Start button then select the Run command then enter nslookup into the Open field then click the Ok button. After that you will see an IP address of your default DNS server. Enter different domains such as hotmail.com yahoo.com you have on your email list in the command prompt and check if they can be resolved by the DNS server. If everything works well here, you should check if you use the same DNS server (check it by IP addresses) in 1st SMTP Server. Change the IP address of DNS server manually if the addresses are different. Use the DNS server you saw in the nslookup for 1st SMTP Server only if it resolves your domains correctly.

If you are having difficulties with defining your correct DNS server, give your ISP a call and ask them about DNS server you can use for a SMTP server you run on your PC locally.

Are there any specific requirements to be able to use 1st SMTP Server?

Brief Answer: Port 25 is not blocked by your ISP, You must use a correct DNS server

Answer: There are no specific requirements to be able to use 1st SMTP Server with an ISP. However due to some ISPs impose restrictions on using their services you can experience inability of using 1st SMTP Server. First of all, your ISP must not block the port 25 and must provide you with a correct DNS server that contains all Internet names in its database and must allow MX record resolution. Give your ISP a call and ask them about limitations they apply to your account and if it is possible to run a local SMTP server on your PC using their connection. Please, note that if you do a mass mailing, you will possibly need to buy a domain and a fixed IP address that you will need to associate with the domain to pass through antispam filters some email providers run on their servers. Please, return to the FAQ index and read other articles around this problem to get detailed information.

Why when I send emails to multiple recipients the email addresses of all the recipients are not added to the email header so a recipient can not see all the other recipients listed in the To field of the original message?

Brief Answer: This is a normal behavior of the program because doing so the program protects recipient privacy and provides an extra security protecting recipients from viruses and SPAM

Answer: This is a normal behavior of the program. When you send an email message to a group of email recipients by regular way all of the recipients receive all email addresses listed in the To field of your original message. This is a major security threat for all recipients you send your message to because you never know whether some of your recipients have viruses on their PCs or not. You also never know if the person you send your message to is a spammer or not. You expose all the email addresses and endanger your recipients; after a while they will start to receive spam and viruses. 1st SMTP Server resolves this problem by hiding the email list in the message header and listing only one email address of the person the message is addressed to. In this case, you expose only your email address while all of your recipients stay safe.

How could I be sure that I do not become an open relay for spammers using 1st SMTP Server? Is it secure in that sense?

Brief Answer: 1st SMTP Server will not become an open relay if you do not uncheck the Accept connections from this computer only checkbox

Answer: By default 1st SMTP Server is set up in such a way that it allows only your PC to communicate with it and rejects all external connections. There is a checkbox in the main window of the program you can use to control this. Open the main window of the program by double-clicking its tray icon then find the Accept connections from this computer only checkbox located in the SMTP Port option group. Turn it on to protect your PC or turn it off to become an open relay if you need this. Note that if this checkbox is turned off but your PC is behind a firewall or NAT, you will not become an open relay as well. In this case external Internet users will not be able to connect to the server while all users within your network will be able to use it as mail server. This is what this option is for. It is necessary only if you are using your PC without a firewall or NAT or if you want the server to be used from your local PC only.

When I am trying to send a message with a huge attachment, I am getting a timeout or socket error. How can I resolve the problem?

Brief Answer: Increase the timeout setting in your email client. Set it to at least 15 minutes to avoid aborting of sending on halfway.

Answer: You should increase the timeout setting in your email client. Set it to at least 15 minutes to avoid aborting of sending on halfway. It usually takes more time to deliver huge messages with attachments than small ones. Please, read the help of the program on how to set up your email client correctly.